I’m a big fan of using dried fruits and nuts in salads, but the combination always needs to be offset by something tangy or savory. In this grain salad recipe, the vinegar, mustard and scallions do the trick.  It’s most delicious at room temperature, making it an ideal dish for a picnic – or for lunch at your desk for that matter.

Farro is a seriously underused whole grain, at least outside of Italy.  Admittedly, it isn’t readily available in most U.S. supermarkets, but you can find it at many natural foods stores, or on Amazon.  And if you don’t have any on hand, the recipe below is also good made with barley.

Fruity Nutty Farro Salad

2 cups farro
6 cups water
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (use gluten-free vinegar if you prefer)
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup sliced almonds or roughly chopped pistachios, toasted
2-3 scallions (depending on size), sliced
2/3 cup dried whole cherries, preferably unsweetened
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt and black pepper to taste

Toast the nuts and set aside. Soak the farro in a bowl of water for 30 minutes, then drain and place in a medium saucepan with water to cover by 1 inch. Cook until tender but still quite chewy, anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes depending on the brand of farro. Drain well and put in a serving bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the orange juice, vinegars and mustard, then slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour over the warm farro and stir to combine. Let cool for 20 minutes or more, then add the remaining ingredients. Season to taste, but be cautious with the salt as it can overwhelm the delicate sweetness of this dish.  Add a bit of extra balsamic vinegar if needed to balance the flavors.

I saw a photo of a plum cake, and I just knew I had to make one.  I went hunting for recipes and found several that looked great, including this one from Eating Well and this one from Smitten Kitchen.  I did a mashup of the two, adding a hint of almond extract and cloves – and cutting down the sugar significantly, for at least a nod to nutrition!  I used tiny plums and got a lot of oohs and ahhs because of the cool pattern they created, and it worked well because there was one plum to each small piece of cake.  But you can use regular sized plums, as the Smitten Kitchen recipe does.

The great thing about this cake is the contrast in textures. Every bite combines the slightly dry (but not in a bad way) spice cake with the hit of the wet plum. Pure summer cake pleasure.

By the way, there’s only a third-cup of oil in the entire recipe – proof that great cake doesn’t need to be loaded with butter or other fat. So it’s perfect for people like me, who love dessert but are watching their cholesterol. But trust me, you don’t need to be a health nut to enjoy this.

Fresh Plum Cake

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
½ cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/3 cup organic canola oil
1 egg
1 egg white
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
12-13 very small plums (around 1 to 1 ½ inches diameter), halved, pitted
2 tablespoons currant or pomegranate jelly

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the dry ingredients, except sugar. In a second bowl, vigorously whisk together the sugar, yogurt, oil, egg(s), and extracts. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, stirring just until the flour mixture is incorporated.

Spray an 8×8” baking pan with oil and pour in the batter. Place the plums in rows (I did 5 rows of five plum halves each), cut side up. Push each plum very slightly into the batter. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out fairly clean.

Meanwhile, heat the currant jelly in a small saucepan with 1 teaspoon of water. Brush the hot cake lightly with this glaze.  Let cool for 1 hour and serve.

Serves 8-10.

I was standing in the kitchen of my country shack, staring at one pile of tomatillos I’d just picked, and another pile of beautiful Sungold cherry tomatoes.  I was in the mood for a spicy snack, so I decided to make salsa.  But should it be pico de gallo or tomatillo salsa?  Turned out I didn’t have to choose.  I’d never seen a salsa that combined tomatoes and tomatillos, but I thought, why not?  The experiment was a smashing success. The tangy tomatillos and super-sweet cherry tomatoes balance each other out to perfection. I could drink this stuff – and practically did.

The recipe below makes a pretty small batch – maybe enough to serve four normal people as a snack (as opposed to someone like me – I ate the entire bowl!)  Be sure to use perfectly ripe, sweet cherry tomatoes that have never been refrigerated. This just wouldn’t be the same with supermarket-variety tomatoes.

This salsa is terrific with homemade pan-roasted tortilla chips. Simply cut torn tortillas into wedges and cook in a cast iron pan with just a little canola oil, turning until the tortilla pieces get dry and crispy. Or just bake them at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes. So much better than the store-bought variety.

Tomatillo and Cherry Tomato Salsa

6 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons diced red or white onion
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, minced
10-12 small cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1-2 teaspoons lime juice
Salt to taste

Sear the tomatillos in a hot, dry cast iron skillet until starting to blacken – about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a food processor and pulse a few times to get a rough puree.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, adding the lime juice a little at a time, to taste. It doesn’t need much because the tomatillos are so tangy. I didn’t think it needed salt either, but you can add some if you’d like.

I find that people tend to be amazed that I make baked beans from scratch. Maybe they find the 5+ hours of baking time intimidating. But have no fear – baked beans are actually super easy to make.

However, they do require one big decision up front: whether to include ketchup or any other tomato products.  Anyone  from New England will be solidly in the no-tomato camp.  In other parts of the country, you not only find ketchup in baked beans, but cinnamon, apple juice, soy sauce and kinds of other crazy stuff. Me, I’m from upstate New York – that’s not quite New England, but today I’m siding with the Bostonians. My recipe is traditional in its tomatoless-ness, though nontraditional in its meatless-ness.  I used smoked paprika – my secret weapon – and a bit of olive oil as a stand-in for bacon or salt pork. I think the result is good enough to satisfy your friendly neighborhood meat eater – and I don’t think anyone will really miss the ketchup.

This recipe makes a huge batch of beans, but you will be very happy to have a lot of leftovers. In fact, if you’re anything like my father, you might find yourself eating them cold for breakfast, along with some eggs and toast.

Vegetarian Boston Baked Beans

2 pounds dried navy beans
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2/3 cup molasses – I used blackstrap, but you can sub. “full”/”robust” for a slightly sweeter flavor
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Spanish smoked paprika
1/4 cup cider vinegar (use gluten-free vinegar if you prefer)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (can substitute vegan version)
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cloves
2 large onions, sliced
2 bay leaves

Soak the beans overnight, or use the quick soak method (bring the beans to a boil in a pot of water, boil 2 minutes, cover and remove from heat for 1 hour. Drain.)

Place the soaked beans in a large saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until nearly tender, about 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on your beans. (If your beans are still rock hard after an hour, discard them – they are probably too old and may never soften, or will do so at the expense of your patience.)  Drain the beans, reserving the cooking water.

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the mustard, molasses, brown sugar, garlic, paprika, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cloves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Put a third of the cooked beans in a large covered bean pot or dutch oven, and cover with half the onions. Repeat, then top with the final third of the beans. Tuck the bay leaves into the pot. Pour on the sauce, then add bean cooking liquid to cover generously (about 6 cups; if you don’t have enough bean cooking liquid, add water.)

Cover and bake for 4 hours, checking occasionally to make sure the beans aren’t getting extremely dried out – add hot water if they are. After 4 hours, taste and add additional salt if you feel it’s needed, and bake  uncovered for an additional 45 minutes to one hour, until sauce is thickened and beans develop a bit of a crust on top.  (Note that beans will thicken significantly as they cool.) Remove bay leaves and serve, or serve later at room temperature or cold right from the refrigerator.

Serves 16-20

For part two of my quest to use up a mountain of zucchini from my garden, I considered making a simple pasta dish – saute squash with garlic and throw it on spaghetti. But I decided to make it more of a nutritious meal by adding chickpeas, and more interesting by adding crispy breadcrumbs with the ingredients of gremolata: parsley, garlic and lemon zest.

Between the sweetness of the zucchini, the tartness of the lemon and the crunch of the breadcrumbs, this dish is the perfect intersection of flavor and texture. So go pick your squash – either out of the ground or at the farmer’s market. Just don’t try to give your extras away to me. I’m still drowning in the stuff.

Pasta with Zucchini, Chickpeas and Gremolata Breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

4 cloves garlic, divided

1 cup freshly made breadcrumbs from good-quality whole wheat or other bread

Grated zest of one lemon

2-3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

3 medium zucchini (I used one small and one huge), sliced lengthwise and then thinly sliced into half-moons

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

Juice of ½ lemon

1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¾ pound whole wheat or whole grain blend spaghetti

To make the gremolata breadcrumbs, heat 2 t. olive oil in a skillet, add half the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add the bread crumbs, lemon zest and parsley and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until bread crumbs are browned and crispy. Set aside.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet. Add the zucchini and red pepper flakes, and cook over medium heat, turning frequently with a spatula, until the zucchini is starting to turn golden (about 10 minutes). Add the remaining garlic during the last 3 minutes of cooking time. Stir in the chickpeas, lemon juice, salt and a generous amount of black pepper.

Meanwhile, heat a large pot of water and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid.  Add the reserved liquid to the zucchini mixture and cook for 2 additional minutes.  Combine the pasta and squash, and stir gently. Serve topped with the breadcrumbs and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serves 4.

Scroll down to the next photo and you will understand why my next few entries will revolve around summer squash.  That’s just today’s haul from my three gigantic plants!  What in the world am I going to do with all of this squash?

My first thought, of course, was zucchini bread. To give it my own twist, I concocted a recipe with some of my favorite flavors – toasted nuts, ginger, nutmeg and lemon. Those additions took this out of the realm of ordinary zucchini bread.  Plus,  it’s vegan, whole grain, and made with a heart healthy oil, so it’s definitely a nutritional step up from the usual zucchini bread loaded with butter, or even – gasp – vegetable shortening.  It does contain a cup of sugar, but this is a very large loaf, so it’s not overly sweet. In fact, it’s pretty darn perfect.

OK, that’s one squash down, 10 to go.  Wish me luck.

Note: The next time I made this recipe, I realized it makes a bit too much batter for a regular loaf pan – I apologize and will adjust the recipe when I have time. For now, bake the extra cup or so of batter in a mini loaf pan…or improvise!

Vegan Zucchini Pecan Bread

6 T. ground flax seeds, whisked vigorously with ½ c. water
2/3 cup canola oil
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2½ cups grated zucchini, packed – about one big zucchini or 3 medium ones
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (do not scoop the flour from the bag – spoon lightly into measuring spoon)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 5” loaf pan with cooking oil spray. Toast the pecans in a dry hot skillet (preferably cast iron) until fragrant and beginning to brown, and set aside. Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater, squeeze out excess liquid with your hands, then measure.

Mix together flax seed mixture, oil, applesauce, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla. Add zucchini and stir until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and stir just until moistened. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the pecans.

Pour batter into the loaf pan (see note above) and bake about an hour and 10 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Let cool at least one hour before slicing.